Pleasant senior Matt Chase captures top Central District football honor

Pleasant senior linebacker Matt Chase was named Division V Defensive Player of the Year in the Central District.
Rob McCurdy/The Marion Star

What enabled Pleasant senior Matt Chase to win D-V Central District Defensive Player of the Year?

Buy Photo

Pleasant senior Matt Chase finds a hole in a game against River Valley earlier this season. Chase was named Division V Defensive Player of the Year in the Central District by a panel of media members.(Photo: Braxton Howell/For The Marion Star)Buy Photo

Story Highlights

Matt Chase is a 5-10, 195 pound senior linebacker and running back at Pleasant.

He had 118 tackles, eight sacks and 23 tackles for loss in the regular season.

He ran for 1,138 yards in the first nine games and scored eight touchdowns.

MARION - What Matt Chase stands for was evident in how he answered the first question.

What did it mean to be named Division V Defensive Player of the Year in the Central District?

"It’s a great honor, but I couldn’t do it without the help of the coaching staff and the players," the Pleasant senior said. "One player just can’t do everything. Everybody has worked so hard this year. We’ve gotten up at six in the morning every day in the offseason. Coach has pushed us and they’ve done a great job of coaching and game-planning. The pieces fell into place I guess."

He acknowledged the honor and then spent the next 61 words crediting his teammates and coaches.

"He takes control of the team," fellow senior Carter Wolf said. "He has great leadership skills. He takes charge of the huddle. He keeps us calm during the game. He’s just a great person. He makes plays all over. He’s a great kid."

Pleasant coach Aaron Cook was asked about the accolades, and he, too, talked about character instead.

"He’s a great person. He’s a really hard worker. He has a great work ethic. I don’t think he missed a day in the weight room in the offseason. He’s just a really, really tough, hard-nosed, hard working kid," Cook said.

Chase, a 5-10, 195-pounder, is the heart of the Pleasant defense at linebacker. He led the 9-1 playoff team with 118 tackles in the regular season, adding eight sacks and 23 tackles for loss for the stingiest defense in the area.

But as good as he was on defense, he easily could have won the honor on offense. As a running back sharing carries with other talented runners, Chase had more than 1,000 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, averaging eight yards per carry and 126 yards per game.

"He’s just solid for us," Cook said. "He’s one of those kids where you can plug and play him. His sophomore year he played guard for us a little bit because we needed him to. He can literally play anywhere. He’s just a tough kid. He can play spots that require bigger kids just because he’s tough. He’s done a good job of stepping up and playing wherever we put him."

Chase sees himself as a linebacker who also carries the ball, not a running back who also makes tackles.

"My sophomore year I started on defense, and my junior year I was only on defense, so I consider myself more of a defensive person. Obviously running the ball is a fun thing to do," he said.

Cook saw his development over the years and isn't surprised it's culminated in the district's highest honor.

"We knew he was a heck of a player," the coach said. "He’s done a lot for us this year. It’s kind of what we anticipated from him. He’s a great kid on top of it. We knew he could help and have a potential special season."

That special season is ongoing.

The Spartans finished as runners-up in the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference and will play Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Findlay's Donnell Stadium in a Division V, Region 18 semifinal game against Archbold.

"He’s a good kid and he has worked his tail off for us for four years," Cook said.

» Visit MarionStar.com or inside Thursday's sports section for a complete list of the All-Central District football team.